Pallet



March 8, 1949. o. F. ARTHUR 2,463,589

PALLET Filed Oct. 15. 1947 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Z =2 l :5. JNVENTOR v 05092 F flaw/Z12.

0. F. ARTHUR March 8, 1949.

PALLET 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 15,, 1947 16 INVENTOR v Oscane F. fier /0E BY .bis

- Patented Mar. 8', 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PALLET Oscar F. Arthur, Connellsviile, Pa. Application October 15, 1947, Serial No. 779,987 3 Claims. (Cl. 248-120) This invention relates to pallets that are transportable by fork-lifting trucks and are adapted for carrying loads either for transportation or for stacking in warehouses, in freight cars or the like; this application being amodification of the invention shown and described in my application Serial No. 757,881, filed June 28, 1947.

My invention has for its object the provision of a pallet structure having deck-supporting legs which may be made of rods or heavy wires and which are so formed and positioned that they offer a minimum of obstruction to the entry of lifting forks and nevertheless are of adequate strength to afford proper vertical supportfor loads and to resist distortion or bending under lateral stresses.

Another object of my invention is to provide a pallet that can readily be lifted from a platform or dock and swung into the hold of a ship or the like, by crane hooks and hoist cables. This feature is particularly desirable where packages or other loads are lashed to the pallet deck and the pallet with its contained load then handled as a unit.

As shown in the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of the pallet; Fig. 2 is a side view thereof; Fig. 3 is an end view; Fig. 4 is an enlarged view taken on the line IV--IV of Fig. 2; Fig.5 is an elevatlonal view of one of the leg-forming elements; Fig. 6 is a view showing another one of the'leg elements, and Figs. 7, 8 and 9 show modifications of the leg elements of Figs. 5 and 6.

The pallet has a deck portion formed of longitudinally-extending wires or rods 8 to which are welded transversely-extending wires 9. Stiflfening rods I ll are welded to theundersldes of the wires 9. The wires 8, 9 and III together form a truss that will effectively resist bending under loads carried by the deck. Marginal wires II and I2 may suitably be of somewhat heavier gauge than the other deck wires. For example, these wires may suitably be of gauge and wires 8 and 9 #2 gauge.

Base strips l3 extend transversely of the deck and are formed of wires I l, I and I which are welded together in mesh form. longitudinallyextending base strips I! are formed of wires I8, I 9 and welded together in superposed relation. the ends of the wires l8 and 20 are bent toa common plane so that they can be entered between the upper wires II and the lower wires I t of the adjacent strips l3 and welded thereto, as shown more clearly in Fig. 1.

The legs are formed of the elements 22 and 2t elements may suitably be shown in Figs. 5 and 6 respectively. These leg made of #4-0 gauge (half -inch rods), and their vertical portions may be of approximately three inches or more in height, the leg elements 2243 having their vertical portions welded together, in groups of'four for each leg.

Legs at their upper and lower ends are welded to the adjacent wires or rods of the deck and the base respectively. Those leg elements whose upper and lower portions extend toward the adjacent edge of the pallet are formed as shown in Fig. 5. These leg elements are made of longer rods than the elements 23 so as to provide for bending backwardly portions 24 and 25 thereof for welding to the vertical part'of the leg. The horizontally-extending portions 26 and 21 of these leg elements are to be braced against vertical stresses, at the edges of the deck, where such stresses are likely to be the greatest. Also these portions 24-25 serve to brace the pallet against deformation under stresses or thrusts imposed thereon in generally-horizontal directions. Also the elements 24-45 brace the comers against deformation when the pallet is dropped.

The loops formed at 28 (by bending back the portions 24) serve as a convenient means for connecting crane hooks and hoisting ropes to the pallet.

For each corner leg of the pallet, there will be a pair of the leg elements 22, one element being disposed in a vertical plane transversely of the pallet and the other in a vertical plane longitudinally thereof. At the intermediate legs, there will be only one leg element 22, and three elements 23, as shown more clearly in Figs. 1 and 4.

While all of the elements of each leg could be of K shape as is 22, there would be more danger of damage thereto by lifting forks. It is adequate that only those leg elements whose upper horizontal extensions project toward the adjacent edge of the pallet be of K shape.

A further advantage of the leg structure is that the leg elements being so compactly arranged in each instance present a minimum surface for engagement with the extremities of lifting forks that accidentally impinge against the legs when being inserted beneath the deck. The legs, being of convex form, will cause glancing off of the forks upon such impingement, thereby reducing danger of injury to the legs.

In Fig. 7, I show a leg element of somewhat simpler form than that of Fig. 5 in that only the upper portion is bent outwardly and backwardly to form a loop at 3 I, the backwardly-bent extrem- In Fig. 8, there are a ity being welded to the vertical portion of the element. The loop is understood that this leg as well as the other legs {can be used with decks and bases of other forms than those shown in the drawings.

pair of leg elements of duplicate form with their vertical mid portions 35 welded together, the outwardly-bent upper and lower ends 36 and 31 of each leg element are disposed in a vertical plane that is perpendicular to the plane of the other leg element. In each case. the bent upper ends provide openings for the insertion of a sling rope or hook.

In Fig. 9, I show a pair of leg elements 38 welded together at their mid portions but with their upper ends of somewhat simpler form than in the case of Figs. and 7, in that such ends are simply bent outwardly at 39 and welded to the deck instead of being bent to loop form. They, nevertheless, provide openings 40 for sling hooks as well as bracing the deck to which'they are welded.

I claim as my invention:

1. A pallet having a deck and a base, and less interposed between the deck and the base and welded thereto at their upper and lower ends, the legs each comprising a plurality of rod-like elements arranged in group formation and with their midportions welded together, some of the elements having their upper portions extending diagonally upward and outward and welded to the deck.

2. A pallet havin a deck and a base, and legs interposed between the deck and the base and welded thereto at their upper and lower ends, the legs each comprising a plurality of rod-like elements arranged in group formation and with their mid portions welded together, some of the elements having their upper portions extending diagonally upward and outward and welded to the deck, there being spaces between the deck and said diagonal portions, for the reception of crane hooks and the like.

3. A pallet having a deck and a base, and legs interposed between the deck and the base, the legs each comprising a plurality of elements rigidly secured together at a plane between the deck and the base. the upper portions of the elements being relatively flared and extending diagonally upwardly and outward and welded at their upper ends to the deck, the lower portions of said elements being also relatively flared, diagonally downward and outward and welded to the base.

OSCAR F. ARTHUR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,410,633 White Mar. 28, 1922 1,476,939 White Dec. 11, 1923 2,306,752 Riemenschneider et a1.

, Dec. 29, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 262,556 Great Britain Dec. 16, 1926 

